There are so many ways to get involved as a Second Helpings volunteer – from chopping produce to answering phones, from organizing events to teaching students.
Corks & Forks will be virtual this year. Mark your calendar for Friday, April 23, and stay tuned for more details!
Elaine Gaither has done it all. She currently serves on Second Helpings’ Advisory Council and chairs the Corks & Forks event committee. We sat down for a virtual conversation with Elaine to hear about her volunteer experience.
Second Helpings: How did you get started as a volunteer? What kinds of volunteer roles have you had?
Elaine Gaither: About nine years ago, I was invited to lunch at Second Helpings. I had really been searching for the right service opportunity, and when I walked through the door at Second Helpings, I knew I was at home. I started volunteering at the front desk and I still do that.
I also wanted to find an opportunity to teach communication and stress management as a volunteer, since I have taught those things professionally. A couple years ago, I got the opportunity to start teaching life skills in the Culinary Job Training program and that has been an eye opening experience. I knew it was a great program but getting to sit with our students and hearing their trials and feeling their hopes and dreams has been so impactful for me.
Last year I learned at an Advisory Council meeting that, due to the pandemic our volunteer numbers had gone down and the need for food had doubled, so I started volunteering in the kitchen. I knew that we fed thousands of people a day, but never saw how we did that. In my first shift, they asked me to chop celery – I thought it would be a couple stalks, and it was a whole grocery cart full! It was incredible to experience the scale of this mission to truly feed Indy.
Elaine at the 2019 Corks & Forks event
SH: How did you come to chair the Corks & Forks committee?
Elaine: I have been a member of that committee, on and off, for several years. In 2019 I was invited to join the Advisory Council, and with that opportunity came the chance to chair the event committee.
Corks & Forks is such a wonderful event. It’s an enjoyable, exciting night, but we also can connect with the mission on a deeper level – the energy, mission, and sincerity are always there – and that doesn’t change when the event is virtual!
Corks & Forks will be virtual again this year, on April 23, 2021. Stay tuned for more details!
SH: What’s your favorite thing about volunteering at Second Helpings?
Elaine: Everywhere you sit – whether at the front desk, in an office, or in the kitchen – you hear ‘thank you’ all day. I feel like it just echoes throughout the building. I probably get thanked 100 times in a day when I volunteer, and I even notice that I say thank you more often in my daily life than before I started volunteering at Second Helpings.
Second Helpings currently has availability for additional volunteers on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (12:30-4:00) and evenings (4:00-8:00). If you’re interested in getting involved, sign up here to learn more.